Above 1200 Sq/FT Knucklehead 61's 2 car garage with room to store a few antique motorcycles & parts

knucklehead 61 · Apr 23, 2026

got the elevator & guide tracks back from powder coater & finished installing it yesterday.
installed the foot kick safety latches that hold it at the second floor level when not in use. i'll detail / polish them later after i get the shop tools all setup. lift has a 2,200 lb capacity & remote control. i'm very happy with how it turned out & it works great.
the deck is 3/4 plywood. the bottom will get painted white to match the ceilings, not sure what to finish the top surface with. perhaps just paint it, thin sheet metal cover, or carpet it to match the upstairs flooring?

the flooring guys are done with the VCT tiles in the bench tool room. they also put linoleum in the closet where the water heater & bead blast cabinet exhaust system will be.
the carpet is finished in the tire machine, tires, & wheels storage room as well as the 880 sq ft parts storage room.
they also finished the LVP flooring in the bathroom.
i am done with all the electric upstairs except for final wiring to the water heater, installing 2 electric heaters in the tool room, and adding 2 more led puck lights in the bathroom.

so far i have 8 fixtures finished on the first floor, & about 40 plugs & switches. lots more to do, but it's starting to come together now.

i decided to go with polished & sealed finish on the concrete & that should start in a week or 2. still waiting for the man doors & roll up doors to show up.

knucklehead 61 · Apr 24, 2026

20 lights finished in the welding / fabrication room.
got the exhaust fan powered up, just need to mount the grill.
next up is finishing all the plugs in this room.

civhatch90 · Apr 24, 2026

This place is coming along very nicely! When are we going to see pictures of the motorcycle collection?

knucklehead 61 · Apr 25, 2026

civhatch90 said:
This place is coming along very nicely! When are we going to see pictures of the motorcycle collection?

no problem!
here are teaser pix of 6 different Harley-Davidson Knuckleheads we built in my shop & sold in the last few years.
they are 1946, 1946, 1940, 1941, 1947, & 1947 year models.
I think we built a total of 32 or 33 similar bikes over a 3-1/2 year period. all were 1939-1969 Harley big twins.
I stopped building them when we moved & started building the new shop, but I have enough parts stashed to build 4 more of these types.

knucklehead 61 · Apr 25, 2026

12 more lights installed. this is the 2 car parking area.
56 left to go, then i can start the tracks in the museum room.
also bought a 16' shitbox truck with a liftgate to make it easier to move all the stuff from the old shop into the new one.
should be way easier than using a truck & trailer, since my biggest trailer is a 16x7 enclosed.
i'll use the 14' equipment trailer for moving the really heavy machinery though.

knucklehead 61 · Apr 25, 2026

this is one of the bikes in my collection, a 1912 Harley-Davidson model X-8-A belt drive single with the first year free wheel clutch.

Old Man Roger · Apr 25, 2026

Front brakes for me please.lol

Vette60 · Apr 25, 2026

Man. What a space! That's for sharing the build and the bikes. They are both awesome. Look forward to following along as you outfit this space.

knucklehead 61 · Apr 26, 2026

my 1910 H-D model 6
last year of the beehive type cylinder & curved front tube frame.
6v total loss electric ignition, no means of charging the 3-2v dry cell batteries.

driftpin · Apr 26, 2026

My mouth is agape at the scope of your work! Thanks for the information on the work that you have done for your vintage knuckleheads and also the information on the 'teens bikes as well. My friend who runs his own machine shop in Palm Beach County Florida, occasionally does repairs to Vintage Harley-Davidsons needing skilled repair work. I was in there one time and saw him working on a WLA HD, one of the threaded bungs on a case had split and he repaired it. I was unaware to that point that the company used a red sealant on the inside of the engine cases to deal with porosity in the castings. You learn something new everyday.

civhatch90 · Apr 26, 2026

knucklehead 61 said:
no problem!
here are teaser pix of 6 different Harley-Davidson Knuckleheads we built in my shop & sold in the last few years.
they are 1946, 1946, 1940, 1941, 1947, & 1947 year models.
I think we built a total of 32 or 33 similar bikes over a 3-1/2 year period. all were 1939-1969 Harley big twins.
I stopped building them when we moved & started building the new shop, but I have enough parts stashed to build 4 more of these types.

All look very cool! Thanks

knucklehead 61 · Apr 27, 2026

here is one of my 3 1915 HD model 11-F 3 speed twins, this one usually has a sidecar attached. i use it to deliver packages to the post office. it was previously owned by Bud Ekins, (famous motorcycle racer/stuntman)

knucklehead 61 · Apr 29, 2026

got all the lights finished in the parking area.
need to design the cabinets for the sink under the stairs.

knucklehead 61 · Apr 29, 2026

yesterday i finished installing the last of the 4' led lights.
183 of them total. 366 bulbs!
this is the bike shop room. the main room i will be working in.
will have the tool boxes, work benches, & 4 bike lifts in it.
uggh, i'll be back to installing more outlets today. yeah for me.

Mr onetwo · Apr 30, 2026

That's a lot of lights.

Can't wait to see how the floors come out :thumbup:

knucklehead 61 · May 2, 2026

First project in the new shop yesterday, swapped out the ****** temu casters fir these heavy duty ones i had stashed on a workbench i bought last week on marketplace before taking it upstairs in the elevator. Don't look at the crappy welds from the fluxcore machine. I typically use my miller 252, but it's still at the old shop. Apparently i am terrible with fluxcore. who knew?!?
Added 2 more led puck lights in the bathroom as it was a bit too dim in there.
The upstairs warehouse area carpet got installed while the concrete was getting polished & sealed downstairs.
More work today as the carpet guys, concrete finisher, & plumber will be here soon.

knucklehead 61 · May 5, 2026

all the flooring & wall base upstairs is now finished.
still waiting for the doors to show up.
started moving junk up with the elevator.
first bike to go up into storage is a 1934 Harley VL project.
got the 36" pexto shear & 36" chicago box & pan brake up as well.
almost 70 tires & some wheels up. need to make the new storage racks for them in the tire room & bring the tire mounting machine over & get it upstairs & piped into the air system.
only have one more really heavy item (900 lbs or so) to get upstairs. so far the elevator has worked flawlessly & is a livesaver!
picked up a bathroom vanity, ss sink, & granite countertop as well as the 5 base cabinets for the downstairs sink / refrigerator / snack bar area.
the concrete slab is now finished. he polished it, added densifier 7 sealer & buffed it, so it's now ready for wall base to be installed.
next up i need to start installing the 1x8 t&g blue buggy pine wall covering in the museum room so the 3 mini splits can be mounted on the walls.

knucklehead 61 · May 6, 2026

curious to me how little interaction this thread gets.
so few questions or comments.

driftpin · May 6, 2026

I could bombard you with questions but you need to make progress on the new storage.

Not about the build, but a question about porosity in castings H-D used for the crankcases. When did H-D start using some-sort of red sealer on the insides of the crankcases? My machinist friend does all-sorts of motorcycle repairs in his machine shop in Palm Beach Co. To paraphrase an old Cycle magazine article about repairing a dented motorcycle fender, "God may save souls, but MJ (my machinist friend) saves engine cases." He had a WW II 750 flathead, a WLA in for a repair to a threaded engine case spigot which had split, probably due to (I assume) over-tightening by a previous owner. I've never been inside a H-D engine case pair before, and when I saw the inside red case sealer, it raised questions for me.

knucklehead 61 · May 6, 2026

driftpin said:
I could bombard you with questions but you need to make progress on the new storage.

Not about the build, but a question about porosity in castings H-D used for the crankcases. When did H-D start using some-sort of red sealer on the insides of the crankcases? My machinist friend does all-sorts of motorcycle repairs in his machine shop in Palm Beach Co. To paraphrase an old Cycle magazine article about repairing a dented motorcycle fender, "God may save souls, but MJ (my machinist friend) saves engine cases." He had a WW II 750 flathead, a WLA in for a repair to a threaded engine case spigot which had split, probably due to (I assume) over-tightening by a previous owner. I've never been inside a H-D engine case pair before, and when I saw the inside red case sealer, it raised questions for me.

the product you mention is Glyptal, it is painted on to prevent oil seeping through porosity in the castings.
i dont think the factory ever used it as i have had dozens of motors & transmissions apart.
it is used by many rebiuilders though.

boyboi · May 6, 2026

this build is insane! i love the shot of the orange bike going up the elevator. nice work!

knucklehead 61 · May 6, 2026

boyboi said:
this build is insane! i love the shot of the orange bike going up the elevator. nice work!

thank you. lots of work, but i am happy with the results so far

Old Man Roger · May 6, 2026

knucklehead 61 said:
curious to me how little interaction this thread gets.
so few questions or comments.

The shops great, people just don't like you.

I kid I kid.lol

Jayman17 · May 6, 2026

Yeah I think you have an awesome shop and lots of cool stuff. Curious about the carpeted area upstairs, that is going to be a workshop?

zanyad · May 6, 2026

Jayman17 said:
Curious about the carpeted area upstairs, that is going to be a workshop?

I saw the sheet metal tools up there and thought :headscrat

Chrisb62 · May 6, 2026

knucklehead 61 said:
curious to me how little interaction this thread gets.
so few questions or comments.

For me at least, you are doing a great job of explaining The Who what and where…….just waiting for more pictures of your Awesome collection.
:beer:

M.Brane · May 6, 2026

I think most of us are in awe of the space, and collection so not much to say. We are watching.

txvwnut · May 7, 2026

Cheese and crackers! The shop the bike collection, all very impressive.

driftpin · May 7, 2026

knucklehead 61 said:
the product you mention is Glyptal, it is painted on to prevent oil seeping through porosity in the castings.
i dont think the factory ever used it as i have had dozens of motors & transmissions apart.
it is used by many rebiuilders though.

Thanks, I appreciate the reply.

Your space and your collection is one that few on here could assemble. Even if someone has the $$$$ to do something similar, do they have the knowledge about the same things you do? I suspect not.

Horror Business · May 7, 2026

What an amazing shop! Thanks for sharing.

LXCam · May 7, 2026

knucklehead 61 said:
curious to me how little interaction this thread gets.
so few questions or comments.

Is that a serious question???

Don’t be a knucklehead - knucklehead, there’s a bunch of us just waiting for the next update. I know I’m blown away.

knucklehead 61 · May 8, 2026

Jayman17 said:
Yeah I think you have an awesome shop and lots of cool stuff. Curious about the carpeted area upstairs, that is going to be a workshop?

thanks.
the carpeted area is a warehouse area, will be full of shelving for parts, hardware, & misc. junk. i will also store some long term project bikes up there to free up area downstairs.

knucklehead 61 · May 8, 2026

zanyad said:
I saw the sheet metal tools up there and thought

i moved the shear & brake into the 748 sq. ft. upstairs tool room, it has VCT tile flooring for durability / easy cleaning.

knucklehead 61 · May 8, 2026

another one in my collection, this is a 1919 model J 61" 3 speed twin with matching 1919 sidecar.
this is by far the nicest of my 3 1919's in the collection, partly due to not riding it much.

knucklehead 61 · May 9, 2026

years ago i built a bulletproof rack that mounted into the 3 receivers on my toterhome so i could haul my RZR & jeep or truck. very solid & secure. made the trip from san jose to oregon many times without a problem.
it started out as a rack i built to haul one motorcycle & eventually evolved into this.
i could haul a bike or RZR on the platform & flat tow the jeep or truck or a trailer.

tedp · May 9, 2026

Very cool!

driftpin · May 9, 2026

I have a brother in the Mission District in San Francisco and visit him from time to time. Last time we got together with another of our friends from childhood and we went to the Peterson Automotive Museum among other places in Los Angeles on a trip from the Bay Area. Now I have a reason to visit someone else in the Bay Area if you accept visitors. I do not have the necessary space to do what you're doing.

knucklehead 61 · May 9, 2026

driftpin said:
I have a brother in the Mission District in San Francisco and visit him from time to time. Last time we got together with another of our friends from childhood and we went to the Peterson Automotive Museum among other places in Los Angeles on a trip from the Bay Area. Now I have a reason to visit someone else in the Bay Area if you accept visitors. I do not have the necessary space to do what you're doing.

i moved to oregon when i retired in 2015, so i'm not in san jose anymore.

knucklehead 61 · May 11, 2026

got the wood mounted on the 2 short walls in the museum & 2-3 courses on the 2 99' long walls.
this is taking a lot more time to install by myself than i thought it would, but i am happy with the look so far.
roughly 1,600 sq ft more to install.
then need to figure out if i am going to seal it with clear & design the long shelf that will run down the long walls.

knucklehead 61 · May 12, 2026

picked up a cherry Chicago Dreis & Krump 8' 18ga sheetmetal brake yesterday.
was sorta looking for a 10', but this was cheap enough to not pass up.

also, my CG started installing the man doors yesterday, so that's more progress.

Above 1200 Sq/FT Knucklehead 61's 2 car garage with room to store a few antique motorcycles & parts

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